Playing Chicken
by SorryImLate
Summary: Kakashi's first day of Team Minato didn't go quite as he expected...
1. Chapter 1

"You three are my students from now on; we'll be training and taking on D and C rank missions together as a team."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed down to the spiky haired brunette that squinted at him in an obnoxious manner.

"Ah! You're Hatake Kakashi!" This 'Obito' boy shouted as he pointed at the silver haired Chuunin. "I've heard about you!"

The Chuunin frowned, not liking the idea of that. Whatever he had 'heard' was nothing to do with him at all.

"K-Kakashi-san," A female voice whispered and Kakashi glanced over as 'Rin' stepped forth, a soft smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kakashi-san… and to be working on the same team as you, of course."

Kakashi caught the small glare he received from Obito and reacted in the only way he knew how, to simply glare back. He had no idea what this Uchiha's problem was, nor did he care.

Minato's chuckle distracted him from the challenging exchange and he gazed up to his sensei.

"Well now that we've all met each other I think we should begin with the introduction of our training." All three students averted their attention to him, eager to start. "The reason I've brought you all into this forest is for you all to experience the dangers that you must always be aware and in control of." Minato explained as he extended his hand to hundreds of trees that surrounded them. "The wild life here is full of both 'friendly' and dangerous creatures – you'll need to keep away from the venomous snakes that hide under rocks and fallen branches as well as any others you have read about during class. You'll need to stay within a mile of this point," He tapped the ground with his foot. "Where I'll be waiting for you to return within twenty minutes. The task is simple – the three of you will be hunting together for something that will feed the four of us."

"We _could_ just go for some ramen…" Obito's voice trailed off when Kakashi glared at him. Rin giggled softly while Minato chuckled.

"But wouldn't that be defeating the purpose of this exercise?" Minato smirked as he buried his hands into his pockets. "On a mission you'll have to hunt your dinner – animals attack when cornered in a hunt; you need to know how to kill swiftly before you are in a position where you're being chased by a badger." He laughed and then smiled warmly. "Mistakes are best made whilst you're young, so you learn from them when it's time to act out alone on a mission."  
_  
There's really no need to say all this…_ Kakashi knew what he was doing; he'd done this before, plenty of times. He only hoped that Uchiha's big mouth wouldn't scare his prey off before he had a chance to-

"You have twenty minutes to find your prey and bring it back here, dead." Minato nodded. "Stick together and _listen to each other_."

When signalled the three disappeared in a flash, Obito's figure seeming the most hesitant to travel at such a speed. Kakashi boosted himself in front of the other two, his eyes squinted focussed as he scanned his surroundings, a predator searching for it's prey. Rin watched him admirably as she followed along, oblivious to Obito's gritted teeth and piercing glare.

_Damnit!_ Obito increased his flow of chakra to catch up with the Chuunin, catching the cold eye that slanted over to him. Kakashi boosted his chakra again to push further ahead, aware of the Uchiha copying his movements to match him. He could feel Obito's eyes on him, burning into his skin with anger and jealousy. Kakashi kept his eyes ahead, showing little reaction to the 'challenge' being thrown at him. Noticing the large branch ahead he slowed down his pace, glancing back to Obito when the Uchiha laughed in victory of being first.

"Obito!" Rin shouted out just before the loud CRASH. Kakashi merely watched as Obito's face crunched into the bark before he slipped down and landed on another branch below. A small groan was heard as both Kakashi and Rin dropped to the branch at his side. Obito hesitantly lifted himself up, his face bright red though neither comrade could tell whether it was from the blow or mere embarrassment.

"Don't worry, Obito." Kakashi murmured and both of his comrades stared up at him with wide eyes, surprised at the deepness of his voice that they had only just now heard. "Mistakes are best made when young."

"Shut up!" The Uchiha growled and lifted his goggles from his head to inspect them. He blinked back his tears from the sting on his face, not wanting to give the Chuunin the satisfaction of seeing them.

"Are you alright, Obito?" Rin asked in her usual caring voice as she inspected the minor scratches on his cheek. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"We're running out of time…" He pointed out. Obito glared at him.

"I'm fine. Let's just get this over and done with." He lifted his head high and shrugged his goggles back over his eyes. They soon set off again deeper into the forest, searching for their success.

x--

Kakashi sat beside the large, dead animal as he waited patiently for Rin to finish bandaging up the deep, fierce scratches spread along the Uchiha's arm.

"Keep still." She said softly when he winced, his eyes glaring through his goggles at the floor, away from Kakashi.

The Chuunin sighed deeply and rested his masked cheek into the palm of his hand, watching intently.

"Don't say anything." Obito demanded through gritted teeth.

"I didn't." Kakashi replied in his usual blunt tone.

"Come on, you two…" Rin chuckled weakly, causing Obito to wince again from the clumsy movement. "Out of our whole class we've been chosen to work together with a Jounin… we should be proud of ourselves, not fighting each other!"

"He started it!" Obito muttered. "With his '_oh I'm such a mighty Chuunin…'_" The rest of the insult was trailed off under his breath.

"You're a liability, Obito." Kakashi murmured coldly, the quick, simple insult enough to rile the Uchiha up again as he shot another glare at the Chuunin.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me! You think you're better than me just because you're a Chuunin, but when my Sharingan awakens, ranks won't mean anything between you and me!"

Kakashi tilted his head slightly, his eyes cold yet still somehow calm. "That is if you are even an Uchiha… you don't seem to show any of your clan's traits. I've never seen an Uchiha _cry_ before."

"SHUT UP!" Obito growled, but his expression faded when a loud, hysterical scream echoed around the woods.

"What was that?" Rin whispered with wide, spooked eyes. Kakashi had already palmed a kunai, his eyes following where the sound came from.

"Stay here." He murmured and shot off towards the direction. Obito gritted his teeth with a glare and stood up.

"Like hell I will!" He muttered and went after him. Rin sighed and followed along, leaving their prized dead animal behind.

The screams eventually turned into panicked sobs and Kakashi quickened his pace towards the location of where the sounds were coming from. He dropped down to a branch, his silver eyebrow rising slightly at the collection of children located on a small patch of grass, huddled around the crying child.

"I'm sorry Iruka-kun!" One of the children shouted, also in tears. "It was an accident… I didn't mean to-"

"Does anyone have a tissue?" A female voice shouted, her young, high voice wobbling in panic.

"We should go and get help!"

"Don't be silly! Our parents will kill if us they found out!"

Deciding to step in, the Chuunin dropped down to the ground before them. The children turned to stare at him. Gasps echoed around the crowd and another broke into tears at the sight of him.

"What's going on?" Kakashi tilted his head in attempt to see what the drama was all about.

All at once the children screamed out their own sides of the story, defending their role in the incident, the Chuunin hearing nothing but a sobbed, babbled, wail.

"Kakashi!" Rin and Obito landed by his side, taking in the sight before them. Rin quickly stepped towards them, demanding a pathway as she made her way to the crying child sat on the floor.

His face was _covered_ in blood, dripping down his neck and into his clothes. Rin gasped and immediately knelt down before him, tapping two fingers under his chin to lift his head. "It's alright…" She said softly as the young boy cried. "What happened?" She asked and looked up to the children who stated the obvious that he'd 'got hurt'. She sighed and looked over to Kakashi and Obito, catching their attention.

"Could one of you walk these children back into the village?"

Kakashi looked at Obito, who sighed and nodded. Rin looked back to the children. "Now you know that this forest is not a safe place to play, so don't come in here again without an adult."

They happily agreed, eager to do anything to keep them from getting into trouble.

"Come on, kids." Obito called out and the crowd followed after him.

"Do you know the way back?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Course I do!" Obito shouted back defensively.

"Calm down, it's alright…" Rin whispered softly as the boy's cries quietened. Kakashi watched the two, impressed with his comrade's skills in calming down the child that looked like he was in a lot of pain. "We'll take him back to Sensei," Rin announced as she slowly helped the boy to his feet. "It's a deep wound and it's on his face… I don't want to muck up…"

The Chuunin nodded, knowing that Rin's skills weren't as sharp as the other medical Nin's he'd worked with on missions. "Are you alright with him?" He asked, unsure on what his role was supposed to be – he wasn't as skilled as his two comrades with children. Rin hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.

"You're stronger…"

_Ugh._ Kakashi nodded and approached the two.

"Keep your hand over your nose," Rin whispered to the boy who nodded and clamped a hand over his face. "Tightly now, to keep the blood from coming out." A panicked whimper escaped the young boy's lips. "It's not as bad as it looks! Keep calm… deep breaths… that's it, good boy… We're going to get you some help…"

Kakashi tilted his head slightly and the boy glanced up at him, his brown orbs standing out against the dark blood painted over his face, nose and eye lids. "Err…" He extended his hands hesitantly and wrapped them around him lifting him up in his arms. The boy leaned his head against Kakashi's shoulder and the Chuunin tensed slightly, unfamiliar with the physical touch.

"Let's go." Rin commanded and they both shot off into the trees.

It felt strange holding someone so close, feeling the warmth of their body against his own. He could feel small drops of blood trickling down his own neck and underneath his clothing. The boy remained still in his arms, to Kakashi's knowledge, exhausted from blood loss.

They finally reached the destined location where their Sensei was sat on a low branch, a small concentrated frown on his face as he read along the lines of a bright orange book. He sensed his student's presence as well as smelt the blood of the animal they had caught. Glancing down with a warm smile it faded when he saw the blood-caked child in Kakashi's arms.

"Sensei!" Rin called out, her expression strained with concern.

"What happened?" Minato asked as he shot down from the branch and ran towards his students.

"Some children were screaming in the forest and we went to check it out… we found him like this." Rin explained. "Obito's walked them back into the village; I don't know what they were doing out there but… but…"

"Give him to me, Kakashi." The Chuunin nodded and loosened the grip in the embrace as Minato took the child from him.

He knelt down to the ground and laid the boy on his back, shrugging off his vest where he placed it under the boy's head as a pillow. "He's unconscious, but alive."

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly as the green light glowed along his eyes and mask, reflecting from his headband. He'd never known his Sensei was skilled in healing, though he couldn't deny he was surprised; Minato was a talented Shinobi, one he looked up to.

The skin sealed itself together, clamping the wound into one thin, crinkled line. Minato rested the back of his hand against the boy's neck. "He's cold." He muttered, before looking up at his students. "Rin, you go and find Obito, make sure he doesn't get lost. Me and Kakashi will take him to the hospital."

"Hai." Rin nodded and turned, running back into the forest.

Minato carefully lifted the boy into his arms and turned, heading the other way where Kakashi followed after him.

Once they reached the hospital the boy was placed into a bed and taken care of by the Medic Nins. Minato asked around if anyone knew who he was, when the name 'Umino Iruka' cropped up. While demanding his student to stay with the boy, he left the hospital in search of the Umino clan to inform them.

Kakashi fidgeted in his chair as he watched 'Iruka's' chest rise and fall steadily. He frowned at the dried, crispy blood still decorated over his face, slightly irritated that the Med Nin's hadn't cleaned up him, though he knew that they had busy jobs – this village was full of half dead Shinobi dropping in and out from missions.

Glancing over to the bathroom he stood up from his chair and stepped inside the small cubicle. He ripped out squares of tissue and soaked them under warm water from the tap, before returning to the bed. He stopped, staring down at Iruka's sleeping face, before he hesitantly dabbed the damp tissue against the red, crispy skin. The blood seeped into the tissue as he gently wiped, revealing small patches of golden skin around the cheek. He collected more tissue and continued the process, though he left the dark red, sore looking slit across the bridge of the boy's nose.

Iruka's head suddenly shifted and Kakashi froze, watching him carefully. When the boy calmed again he continued to gently wipe down the stained skin of the boy's neck where the blood had trickled.

Iruka's eyes slowly fluttered open and he let out a small sigh, staring up at the fuzzy white ceiling as the warm water trickled down his neck. He lazily gazed over to his left where Kakashi stared down at him with wide eyes, his body frozen.

"I was… cleaning you up." He quickly said in a defensive tone. Iruka stared at him, waiting for his eyes to regain focus.

"Thank…you…" He whispered in a small, croaky voice.

The Chuunin nodded and collected the clumps of now red tissue, averting his eyes from the boy. "So, um… what were you doing in the forest anyway? It's not really a place for children."

Iruka licked his dry lips. "We were… playing Ninjas." Kakashi frowned.

"And you got your nose sliced open?"

Iruka winced and nodded.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked again, his frown deepening.

The brunette turned his head away. "You won't tell?"

_Well that depends…_ "No."

Iruka remained silent for a moment and the Chuunin parted his lips to ask him again when he finally spoke. "One of the boys stole a Shuriken from his father's pouch, he left it downstairs when he was sleeping… we'd never seen a real one before, so we were really excited..."

Kakashi winced, not liking the sound of this.

"We were just playing with it, throwing it at the trees… and then Toshi-kun said we were going to play _Chicken_-"

"You were going to play_ Chicken_ with a _Shuriken_?" Kakashi frowned. Iruka nodded dully.

"They made me go first and I couldn't dodge it in time." The brunette tapped his nose lightly with his fingertip, wincing at the sore pain. Kakashi followed his finger with his eyes, a silver eyebrow rose in disbelief.

"Do you realize that if that Shurikan had hit slightly lower it would have gone straight through your _neck_? You would have _bled to death_ before we even found you." Iruka flinched slightly at his tone, his brown eyes watering. "You're extremely lucky we were there in the first place."

"I'm sorry, Chuunin-san…" He whispered, lowering his head like a scolded puppy.

Kakashi sighed and shrugged. "Well it's done now. I'm sure your friends have learned their lesson too. Your nose is going to scar though, it's too deep even for chakra to heal."

Iruka nodded with a small sigh, before he slowly glanced up at Kakashi, a small smile curving at his lips. "Do I look like a Ninja?"

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise at his question, intrigued at the innocence this child possessed, how so far away his thoughts were from the truth. He wished he'd experienced that feeling… the feeling of innocence, naivety. "Yeah." He murmured, his eyes crinkling up into a faint smile. "You do."

Iruka grinned slightly and tapped the wound gently again, a sense of pride rushing through him at the Chuunin's words. "Maybe…" Kakashi murmured, glancing away to think carefully on his words before he looked back to him. "Maybe I could teach you… to dodge the Shuriken…"

Iruka's eyes widened and he smiled brightly. "You would?"

"One condition." The Chuunin demanded.

"What is it?" Iruka blinked.

"You only play it with me." Kakashi nodded, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his masked lips.

Iruka smiled brightly and nodded. "I promise."


	2. Chapter 2

Well um ^^; you asked for a sequel. I'm a bit nervous about posting this one, so please, be nice ^^;

x—

"Today we'll be taking a different perspective of our shuriken training." Iruka smiled warmly at his students. "We've spent the last few weeks learning to angle our aims perfectly towards our wooden dummies, but shuriken training is not just about aiming your own weapon towards an enemy, you must also learn to recognize the exact direction and speed of a weapon that is also being aimed at you."

A small, chubby hand raised in the air.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"What if you lost both your eyes and ears and couldn't see or hear a shuriken being thrown at you?" Bright blue eyes blinked cluelessly.

"When would that _ever _happen?" A young, pink haired girl glared at the blond, who frowned when laughter surrounded him.

"That's a very good question actually." Iruka smiled, the laughter quickly dying down at the teacher's defence. "There are a lot of Shinobi in this village who have had valuable senses damaged or lost in the dangerous missions they take, but there are many ways for your other senses to tell you when you're in danger."

"Like what?" Naruto wrinkled his nose.

"You're chakra, idiot." A deep voice murmured from the crowd. Naruto turned to scowl at the dark haired Uchiha.

"That's correct. Chakra is the key – your chakra is also a sense that can pick up any other chakra around you. The chakra used to throw a shuriken at such a fast speed can quite easily be detected, depending on how hard _you_ train to use _your own_ chakra. It's best to do that while you're still young so you can learn your limits and styles throughout years of practice – remember; mistakes are best made whilst you're young, so you learn from them when it's time to act out alone on a mission." The Chuunin's eyebrow rose slightly. "But, we won't be going that far today – as far as I'm aware, we all have our eyes and ears nicely intact." He laughed.

"Maa, sensei… I'm hurt."

Iruka's eyes widened slightly and he glanced up to the nearest tree where the Copy Nin sat, smiling down at him in a dorky manner whilst turning the page of his book.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka almost stuttered, but offered him a stern look, his eyes lowering to the orange book in the man's hands.

"Iruka-sensei?" A young blonde girl called out as the students tilted their heads far back to see up the tree. "Who is that?"

The Jounin tucked the novel back into his pouch and stood up on the branch, then swiftly dropped down onto the ground, eyeing the young students that stared up at him with wide, blinking eyes. His visible eye gazed over to the teacher, their eyes pieced into each other for a moment. Finally the Chuunin cleared his throat and turned back to his students.

"This is Hatake Kakashi, a great example of a loyal Shinobi to this village." Iruka explained in his teacher voice, extended a hand towards the Jounin. "I expect you all to show your respect."

"Where's his other eye?" Naruto blinked.

"Naruto-kun, what did I just say?" Iruka's eyebrow twitched.

Kakashi chuckled as he buried his hands into his pockets, stepping closer towards the teacher who glanced up at him with a questioning eyebrow. The Jounin caught the silent question and nodded, giving the teacher the permission he was asking for. Turning back to his students the Chuunin suppressed his small sigh, searching for the best way to explain.

"Does everyone remember what I was saying about lost valued senses?" The students nodded dumbly. "Kakashi-sensei lost his eye on a dangerous mission, and so as I said before, his chakra is the key to make up for that."

It wasn't exactly the truth, but Iruka wasn't prepared to speak too bluntly on the Jounin's haunted past.

The students stared up at the Copy Ninja admirably, who smiled awkwardly and gave a small wave.

"Did it hurt?"

"Naruto-kun!" Iruka scowled at the blond. "What did we talk about last week?"

"Um…" Naruto glanced away sheepishly. "Respecting the privacy of others?"

"Exactly. I expect better attention from you. Now, let's go back to our main topic." There was an awkward moment as he glanced up to the silver haired Jounin that watched him intently, his eye crinkled in amusement. A nostalgic feeling washed through the Chuunin, amazed at how much Kakashi had changed over the years. The dark look in his eye had faded, and the deepness of his voice had found a new tone that complimented his witty sarcasm and bright humour one would never have witnessed years ago. That one, placid eye now expressed his emotions, which right now, was downright amused at the fact that throughout the whole lesson, Iruka had been stealing Kakashi's words of advice when the Jounin had taught him the same shuriken lesson.

Clearing his throat, Iruka forced away the blush that threatened to rise, and offered the Jounin a soft smile. "Kakashi-sensei, would you like to join us in our lesson?"

The question had obviously been unexpected and for a split moment the Jounin's visible eye widened slightly, before it crinkled once more into a smile and he nodded. "Sure."

Iruka smiled warmly. "I'll dodge." He said quietly, before turning to his class. "Kakashi-sensei and I are going to give you an example of what you'll be doing today – I want you all to step back and watch closely."

As the students shuffled back Iruka took a couple of long steps back, Kakashi mirroring his movements. The Jounin reached into his pouch and lifted his hand, a shuriken clamped loosely around his index finger. He brushed his thumb against the sharp tip and the weapon span incredibly fast, the students hypnotized by the movement.

_Show off._ Iruka smirked, and opened out his arms challengingly. Kakashi's eye tightened into a leer and he lifted his arm back, before it shot forward. The shuriken spun through the air with a sharp echoed whistle. Iruka's eyes narrowed in concentration, focussed on the intended aim; the bridge of his nose. He simply ducked, lifting his head up again where his eyes widened at two more that shot towards him. He watched the two carefully, hesitation written in his eyes. His feet skidded slightly to the right, dodging the shuriken that shot past him. A loud group of gasps echoed when the Chuunin suddenly lifted his hand towards the next one, his fingers closing around the sharp, flying shuriken that popped in his hand, a cloud of smoke leaking from his fingers.

"A shadow clone shuriken?" Sakura whispered, blinking.

Iruka didn't have time to offer the Jounin a victorious smirk as he heard the sharp whistle come from behind and he turned, his eyes widening to see Kakashi's clone stood behind him, watching intently as four shuriken thrust through the air towards the Chuunin. Iruka stole a glance of the original Kakashi where four more shot his way; eight shuriken aimed at different parts of the teacher's body. In a split second he calculated the targets of each weapon, and leaped into the air. He body twisted flexibly, bending and coiling astonishingly in the air as each shuriken skimmed past him, before fell back to the ground on all fours with a grunt, letting out a heavy pant.

The silver haired clone disappeared with a puff of smoke. The students stared, stunned.

"Woah sensei you kicked his butt!" Naruto shouted, amazed.

Iruka let out a small laugh. "I haven't done that in years…" He pulled himself back to his feet and gazed over to the Jounin that blinked at him. Iruka's eyes widened slightly, asking himself if he'd seen right, that the expression in that eye hinted a small sense of admiration.

He cleared his throat, once again forcing away his blush as he turned back to his class. "I want all of you to pick a partner to work with. Each pair will have a clone to supervise so there are no trips to the hospital."

Kakashi smirked at the irony.

"Only one shuriken will be thrown at a time – if I see more than one, there will be trouble. Is that clear?" He gave a stern look and nodded when a mumbled 'hai' echoed around the group. "Right." He nodded again, placing his hands together. Kakashi mirrored his hand sign and four clones appeared around each teacher.

x—

"Stop moving around, dobe!" Sasuke hissed as Naruto hopped hesitantly on each leg, scowling at the shuriken held in the Uchiha's hand.

"Stop pretending to throw it then, bastard!" Naruto gave as good as he got.

"Maa… at this rate no one's going to learn_ anything_." Kakashi murmured in a bored tone, stealing a glance of the Chuunin clone not too far away. "Hurry up and throw the damned thing."

Glaring, Sasuke lifted his arm back and shot it forward, the shuriken spiralling through the air. Naruto's blue eyes widened, his body instinctively freezing as the sharp weapon approached him. In the blink of an eye the Jounin appeared in front of him, catching the shuriken around his finger just before it hit Naruto's face. His visible eye narrowed down to the boy, a silver eyebrow rising. "Feel free to dodge anytime, kid."

The blond let out an irritated growl. "He didn't warn me!"

"And an enemy _would_?" Kakashi cocked an eyebrow again, before he glanced over to Sasuke. "Nice shot – try to loosen your wrist a little next time though, it'll make the shuriken fly smoother."

Sasuke nodded, ignoring Naruto's jealous glare.

"Again." Kakashi ordered, stepping back as the Uchiha fished another shuriken from his pocket.

He threw the sharp weapon again and Kakashi turned his gaze to the blond who stood incredibly stiff, watching the shuriken intently. "Move!" Kakashi urged, ready to step in when Naruto quickly ducked, watching the shuriken fly over his head.

"Ha! I was going to dodge it then even before you said to!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

x—

"You all did very well today, I'm impressed." Iruka smiled warmly. "That's the end of the lesson; I don't want anyone practising outside of these premises without an adult around to supervise. If I hear of anyone going against my instructions then they will not take place in the next lesson. Is that clear?"

Another 'hai' echoed around the group.

Kakashi smirked behind his mask at the Chuunin's protectiveness of his students; a little pain never hurt anyone, sort of…

"Please thank Kakashi-sensei for offering to help us today."

The Jounin's eye widened slightly and he glanced down at the echoed, out of sync 'thank you', offering them a nod. He watched as the students were dismissed and they ran off into the distance, eager to get home. Kakashi glanced over to the Chuunin who began walking around the large patch of grass, picking up any shuriken lying around.

"That dodge you made earlier…" Kakashi murmured as he stepped towards Iruka, holding a couple of the sharp objects in his hand. "…was impressive." He admitted. Iruka blushed deeply, taking the shuriken from him. He glanced up at the Jounin, scratching lightly across the scarring of his nose.

"I learned from the best." He smirked in amusement when the Jounin's eye widened in shock.

"I have _never_ wriggled my hips like that." Kakashi murmured in a defensive tone, the amusement visible in his own eye. "I didn't even know it was _possible_ to _wriggle _like that." He grinned behind his mask.

Iruka scoffed, his face burning. "Well then maybe _I _should teach _you _sometime_."_ Despite his red face he managed to let a smirk slip from his lips as the Jounin blinked, taken back by the comment.

"I'll check my schedule." Kakashi murmured intriguingly after a small pause, smirking in amusement when the Chuunin looked away in embarrassment.

"What were you doing here anyway?" Iruka suddenly asked after a short pause as he placed the training weapons into a small box sat by one of the trees. He stole a weak glance of Kakashi. "I haven't seen you for months…"

The Jounin shrugged and started walking as the Chuunin picked up the box and turned towards the academy. "I had a four-month mission assigned." He stole a glance of the Chuunin. "_Undercover_." He said quietly

Iruka nodded, catching the glance and quiet tone. A warm feeling washed through him, knowing that although missions were supposed to be kept secret, Kakashi trusted him not to breathe a word. Gazing up at the clouds the Chuunin sighed. "How do you do it? Stay away from home for so long? It would drive me crazy…"

"It can…" Kakashi murmured, following Iruka's gaze. "But then we all have our own sanctuary to return to…"

Iruka looked at Kakashi, raising an eyebrow. "And yours?" He whispered carefully, not wanting to pry. Kakashi met his gaze, his visible eye flickering in hesitance, before it crinkled up into a soft smile.

"I better go… hand in my report." He smirked. "I'm very late."

"Oh…" Iruka blinked. "Well… I'll see you soon…?"

Kakashi nodded and lifted his hand in a small wave, before he disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of grey smoke. Iruka frowned, staring at the space the Jounin stood only seconds ago.

_What was that all about?_

x—

Iruka took a sip of his tea as he read along the next completed, yet incorrect quiz. His eyebrow rose in bewilder as he gazed down at a badly drawn picture of a smiling dolphin at the bottom of the page, the words '_the dolphin will cry if I get a bad grade_' written underneath it.

Despite the immaturity he couldn't help but chuckle. "_Naruto…_" He smirked, and quickly jotted down underneath it; '_Cheer him up with some studying after class'._

He glanced up when he heard a sudden knock on the door, and blinked over to the clock; 9:34pm.

Sliding the chair from under his working desk he stood up and padded across the room and into the hallway. He turned the handle and opened the door, his brown eyes widening slightly.

"Kakashi?" He gasped. "What's wrong?"

There was a short silence as the Jounin scratched the back of his neck, averting his eyes. "I'm sorry to knock so late… it's just…" He stole an awkward glance of the Chuunin's confused face. "Earlier today… I wanted to say something… and I know the moment's kind of gone…"

Iruka wrinkled his nose slightly, puzzled. "Um… do you want to come in?"

With a small nod Kakashi stepped inside and toed off his sandals. Iruka walked into the living room, turning to the Jounin who stood in the doorway between the hallway and living room, an uneasy look in his eye.

"What did you want to talk about?" Iruka asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

"My sanctuary." Kakashi murmured quietly.

"What?" Iruka blinked.

"My sanctuary."

"No, I know what you said…" Iruka laughed weakly. "What about it?" Kakashi glanced over to the Chuunin carefully, his chest tightening.

"It's you."

Iruka's blinked with wide eyes, staring at the Jounin as silence surrounded them. Kakashi inwardly winced, waiting for some kind of reaction.

"What?"

That wasn't quite what he was looking for…

With a small sigh he looked away, frowned, and looked back to the Chuunin with a stubborn expression. "Why have you never noticed?"

Iruka opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, not knowing what to say.

"Every time I return from my missions… you're the first person I come to."

Iruka blinked again, and swallowed. "Kakashi… I…"

"Why did you stop playing dodge with me?" The Jounin's voice sounded hurt.

"What?" Iruka wrinkled his nose. "I had a class to teach!"

"Not then!" Kakashi groaned. "_Back then._ Why did you stop?"

"I…" Iruka bit his bottom lip, stunned at the confrontation. "You became ANBU and you were always busy with missions… I didn't think you wanted to anymore… thought you'd grown out of it…"

"I did want to…" The Copy Ninja whispered, looking down at the floor. Iruka stared at him for a moment, shocked.

"Is that why you were here today? Because of the dodging lesson?"

"No." The Jounin murmured and Iruka's eyebrows furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak but Kakashi beat him to it. "I already told you why."

_Every time I return from my missions… you're the first person I come to. _

"Oh…" Iruka whispered, looking down at the floor.

"The dodging lesson was why I showed myself… I was waiting for you to finish class so I could see you… but I really wanted to play…" The Jounin muttered quietly.

Despite his guilt, the corners of Iruka's lips twitched but he managed to force back his amusement, not wanting to hurt Kakashi's feelings anymore than he had.

"When I returned from my missions we always used to play… and I always looked forward to it, playing dodge, being with you." He stole a small glance of the Chuunin. "You always brought out the best in me."

Iruka's lips parted in a silent gasp. "Kakashi… I'm sorry. I didn't know it meant that much to you." He sighed, glancing away again. "I thought we'd drifted apart… you were always busy with your missions, and then I graduated from the academy… we saw less and less of each other." He hesitated for a moment, before he stepped towards the Jounin, raising an eyebrow caringly. "If you want… we can start playing again?"

Kakashi glanced back to him slowly after a short pause. "We… can?"

"Of course!" Iruka smiled. "I always wanted to as well… I just thought you didn't want to anymore…" He lifted his hand to the bridge of his nose, gently running his fingertip along the scar. Kakashi watched the movement, suppressing a shiver. "I've really missed you, you know… you brought out the best in me too…" Iruka whispered, meeting the Jounin's wide eye. "I always wanted to say something, but I was afraid of losing whatever friendship we had left… but…" He smiled weakly. "You've always been my sanctuary too."

Kakashi blinked. "You mean…?"

"I fell for you years ago, Kakashi." Iruka smirked warmly with a small shrug. His eyebrow rose slightly when the Jounin didn't say anything, just stared at him with his wide eye. He parted his lips to speak, to tell the Jounin to say something, when he suddenly felt himself pinned against the wall, his body pressed tightly against the Copy Ninja's.

The Jounin tugged his mask to pool around his neck and pressed his lips against Iruka's. The Chuunin closed his eyes with a soft, satisfied sigh, feeling the Jounin smile against his lips. He lifted a hand to run his fingers to the silver strands of hair as he planted soft kisses along the Copy Ninja's jaw line, before returning to those pale lips where he plunged his tongue into the Jounin's mouth, hearing a small, faint whimper escape from the Copy Ninja's chest. Their tongues twisted and rubbed together before Iruka broke the kiss with one last peck on the lips.

Kakashi sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Do you want to stay the night?" Iruka whispered and his eyes opened again wide. "Make up for lost time." Iruka smiled, his cheeks shading slightly.

A small smile curved on Kakashi's lips. "And play dodge in the morning?" He whispered.

"Of course." Iruka chuckled.

"I'd like that." Kakashi smirked.

The end~


End file.
